Sarah and the Socialist
by John Nichols
The Nation
Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, appearing Tuesday on CNN (yup, things have gotten so bad that she's talking to what rightwingers call the "Communist News Network") was asked: "Is Barack Obama a socialist?"

She did not dismiss the notion.

Rather, she said, "I'm not going to call him a socialist. But as Joe the plumber has suggested, in fact he came right out and said it, it sounds like socialism to him. And he speaks for so many Americans who are quite concerned now after hearing finally what Barack Obama's true intentions are with his tax and economic plan."

So it sounds like, even if she is "not going to call him a socialist," Palin obviously sympathizes with the notion.

Fair enough.

What do the Socialists say?

Brian Moore is not buying it.

Obama's no socialist, says Brian Moore, the nominee of America's honorable old Socialist Party.

Obama's "bought and sold" by Wall Street, says the Florida peace activist who is carrying the banner this year of the party of Eugene Victor Debs and Norman Thomas.

Of course, Moore adds, so too is Palin's presidential running-mate, John McCain.

"The two major candidates cannot move, they are imprisoned by accepting all that corporate money," explains the Socialist candidate.

What would a real socialist do?

To begin with, instead of supporting the bailout for bad bankers that both Obama and McCain have endorsed, Moore says Congress should "nationalize the banking system" and replace it with "a socially owned, democratically-controlled independent national banking authority, made up of consumers, workers, accountants and economists, who will set national policy. It would be a non-profit national institution, which would operate through credit unions, cooperatives and state-run banks."

Any chance that Obama and the Democrats have a plan like that in the works?

Not a chance, says Moore.

"The economic system is collapsing before their very eyes and they are beginning to realize that neither major-party fully grasps the severity of the situation," explains the Socialist who is currently competing for votes in eighteen states, comprising more than 270 electoral votes.

That, notes Moore, is "enough to win on November 4."

So if Palin is really concerned about the creeping socialist threat, perhaps she should stop trying to fake up a case against Barack Obama and start talking about another rival.

Palin won't have to watch her words.

She can go right ahead and call Brian Moore a Socialist.

This article can be found online at www.thenation.com.